In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, former US vice-president Al Gore has said an agreement by countries to phase out fossil fuels would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”. He added that it is “absurd” to put a fossil fuel company CEO in charge of Cop28.
It would be a “welcome surprise” if world leaders agreed at the climate talks to call for an end to fossil fuels, but such a declaration would have “enormous impact” upon the world, Gore said at the gathering in the United Arab Emirates.
“If there were a decision here to surprise the world to say ‘OK we get it now, we’ve made enough money, we will get on with what needs to be done to give young people a sense of hope again and stop as much as suffering as possible and start the phase-out of fossil fuels’, it would be one of the most significant events in the history of humanity,” the former US vice-president said.
Sultan Al Jaber may not think a phase out of fossil fuels is necessary, but Pikachu certainly disagrees. My colleague Damian Carrington sends in this snap of an eye-catching protest for the ‘finance day’ of the summit.
Pikachu at Cop28 conference in Dubai Photograph: Damian Carrington/The Guardian
The Prime Minister of Barbados and one of the world’s foremost negotiators on loss and damage, Mia Mottley, has kicked off finance day at Cop with a press conference.
She said: “We are living in the age of superlatives. Temperature and extreme weather records are tumbling, and our finance systems cannot cope”.
It may have surprised some that Mottley was so gracious and polite to Sultan Al Jaber after his comments yesterday, thanking him for his work on the summit. But she is a diplomat, and that is her role.
She said:
Adaptation, mitigation, loss and damage. Those have been the three areas that we have been focused on for the last few years. This has probably been the most progress we’ve seen in the last twelve months on finance but we’re not where we need to be at, so first of all I want to give thanks and I really do want to give thanks to Dr Sultan for his leadership and determination that we should leave Dubai with progress even if we are not at the final destination.
"I want to give thanks to Dr. Sultan for his leadership and determination that we should leave Dubai with progress" - H.E. Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados pic.twitter.com/Jb59HUilLJ
Mottley also said that the oil and gas sector has to be at the table when it comes to negotiating on decarbonisation, as do banks and the finance sector.
Barbados PM Mia Mottley: Those who regulate banks, and determine credit ratings should be part of the climate conversation.
She says the oil & gas sector also has be at the table.
“You cannot say that it's 1.5C to stay alive, and we continue to play with voluntary commitments” pic.twitter.com/pRAlXHSsfp
Yesterday, 123 countries signed the first ever Declaration on Climate and Health which included galvanising finance for climate and health solutions, and a commitment to incorporate health targets in their national climate plans.
The UAE announced an “aggregated” funding commitment of $1 billion towards the implementation of health-focused climate activities, money which comes from agencies including the Green Climate Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the Rockefeller Foundation. But, and it’s a big but, it’s unclear how much of this money is new money, and it’s also unclear whether it will take the form of grants or yet more debt for vulnerable nations.
And while the declaration acknowledged that reducing climate health impacts will require emission reductions, there is not a single mention of fossil fuels – which is a bit like having an alcoholism prevention plan without mentioning alcohol.
Good morning! This is Helena Horton, bringing you coverage from the fifth day of the UN’s Cop28 climate summit.
The Guardian will be liveblogging the negotiations throughout. You can email me at helena.horton@theguardian.com or on X/Twitter at @horton_official, and my colleague Sandra Laville (sandra.laville@theguardian.com, @sandralaville) will take over later on.
Today’s official themes are finance, trade, gender equality and accountability, so expect reports and news focused on those themes, as well as on the wider negotiations.
In the meantime, here are some of yesterday’s key events:
Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE president of the Cop28 climate talks, told a meeting that there was no science showing a phase-out of fossil fuels was necessary to limit global heating to 1.5C (2.7F) above preindustrial levels. The Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting revealed Al Jaber’s comments.
Protesters at the conference called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Indigenous groups condemned the murder of an activist in Peru.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, faced criticism over his climate policies and fleeting visit as leader of the opposition Keir Starmer stayed in Dubai to meet world leaders.
